Marlene
You've learned about the Power of Positive Thinking, how your thoughts affect you and your life. The same goes for The Power Of Negative Thinking. Be careful what you are focusing on. Always ask yourself this: Is this thought hurting or helping my life? Then... you will know what to do.
Marlene
How many times have you made a decision that was right? A lot, of that I'm sure. Yet have you ever found yourself more attached to being right rather than doing the right thing?
Most people I know, including myself, have made decisions that weren't the best for the situation. We mess up. The difference is do you change your mind and go forward or stick with your decision even though you know it's not going to work out? Don't hang onto bad decisions - admit you're wrong and look for a new avenue.
Marlene
One foot in front of the other, one step at a time, focus on where you want to go, not where you've been because today is all that matters. Have you started yet or are you ready to begin?
When you make the decision to go forward, everything changes. You've made a commitment and nothing will stop you from fulfilling your goal. Will there be setbacks? Good chance. Will there be amazing moments? Absolutely! Will it be worth it? Only you can decide.
(Note:Something to think about: How much do you really have control over? --- Marlene)
Since we are talking about our life and our future, inevitably and ultimately we have to make certain decisions. Decisions are about making the right choices (Nobody wants to make the wrong choices anyway). No matter how hard pressed we are, we have to know that we have choices. We just have to decide which course to take.
Whichever course we choose, there will be consequences waiting for us, be it good or be it bad. The choices we make today will color the spectrum of our life in the future.
We may dream of "flying to the moon and play with the stars" but before we could do that, we need to do certain things first. We certainly could not wait for the moon to fall on our lap. We need to set our dreams, choose the right vehicle to achieve our dreams, transform our dreams into tangible goals and last but not least, we need to act fast as if our life depends on it.
Do I consider myself idealistic? Hmmm ... I do not know.
Marlene
Think about your work. Your autograph is on it. Are you happy to sign it knowing you did the best you could? Was the way you approached and executed the work filled with joy, confidence, integrity and compassion? If not, why not?
No matter what your position is, it's important. Everyone is part of the team and the way you do your part either helps or hurts the outcome. If it's not your dream job, act like it is until you find something else. Don't complain. Be a good example.
Marlene
Learn about your customers' world. Stay on top of news that may affect their business. Find out what is important to them and help them achieve it. You never know how great the relationship can turn out to be.
Marlene
What can you do to make your next interaction positive? What can you do to improve a situation? Maybe it's a smile, a laugh, a word of encouragement. Perhaps it's holding someone's hand or giving them a hug.
There are so many ways to make a positive impact. Challenge yourself and see what you can come up with. Then tomorrow and the day after that, do it again. When we add repetition to an activity, over time, it becomes a natural event or as some say "a habit".
Of course everyone worries sometimes and for good reasons. Do you realize that worrying doesn't solve anything? Most of the time we worry about things that are out of our control. When we are concerned, we are more apt to take action or develop a plan and then put the plan into place.
Explore how you feel about worry and concern and if your response to each one is what you really want to do.
Marlene
Today is where the good life lives - your life. Be Happy Now! Make the most of each moment, enjoying the people in your life and look forward to the future. When you stay in the moment, you don't miss the small acts of kindness that come your way; and they are there, always.
Get ready for a fantastic day; it awaits you. Choose to accept it and share it with as many as you can.
By Glen Michael Robinson
My name is Glen Michael Robinson and I've been employed for the past 23 years with the Marion County Sheriff's Office in Ocala, FL. I've never seen a mother respond to the death of her child the way this mother did.
Her son was killed on his third birthday when he chased a ball in the road in front of his house and was struck by a car. Her resolve to remain calm while everything around her was falling apart was an inspiration to me.
I asked her if she knew where the mother was. I'll never forget the calm expression on her face as she looked at me and told me, "I am the mother." She was a source of strength for me.
Marlene
Everyone will have their time to be courageous, many more than once. Look around at the people you know who have encountered situations that require their strength to make it through. Maybe it's been you, or someone in your family. Remember, you never really know what someone has faced. Open your heart today and recognize the courage in their souls.
Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one family between us and the ticket counter.
This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. You could tell they didn't have a lot of money. Their clothes were not expensive, but they were clean.
The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by- two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, elephants and other acts they would see that night. One could sense they had never been to the circus before. It promised to be a highlight of their young lives.
The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be. The mother was holding her husband's hand, looking up at him as if to say, "You're my knight in shining armor." He was smiling and basking in pride, looking at her as if to reply, "You got that right."
The ticket lady asked the father how many tickets he wanted. He proudly responded, "Please let me buy eight children's tickets and two adult tickets so I can take my family to the circus."
The ticket lady quoted the price. The man's wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, the man's lip began to quiver. The father leaned a little closer and asked, "How much did you say?"
The ticket lady again quoted the price. The man didn't have enough money.
How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight kids that he didn't have enough money to take them to the circus?
Seeing what was going on, my dad put his hand into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill and dropped it on the ground. (We were not wealthy in any sense of the word!) My father reached down, picked up the bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket."
The man knew what was going on. He wasn't begging for a handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking, embarrassing situation. He looked straight into my dad's eyes, took my dad's hand in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20 bill, and with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied, "Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family."
My father and I went back to our car and drove home. We didn't go to the circus that night, but we didn't go without.
Anonymous --- Submitted by Jeff Pappas --- Texas
Read more at https://motivateus.com/stories/circus.htm#8DXTSdORKkGKyBoh.99
Marlene
What do you think? I've known many people who never seemed to bloom in their thinking as they got older. They seemed to stay with what was familiar to them, rather than look at what could be and is possible.
When you don't learn from your experiences, you may find yourself repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Wisdom is taking the experience, looking for the lesson and changing your ways to one that will benefit you, not hurt you, again.
This morning I had to report for potential jury duty. I accepted the fact that I might be there all day. Once I did, I relaxed and enjoyed the moments leading up to our dismissal - a deal was struck.
Imagine how you would feel sitting there waiting. Would you have been agitated, upset, or angry? By accepting what is, you can move onto "Where and what do I need to do next?"
Hope your day is incredible and that acceptance for what is helps you move on to what could be!
Your always adding to the greatness of your life. No matter who you meet, what decisions you make, you will always improve upon yourself and what you were in the past. Make each second of every day count, for it will never return. Live without regrets and always have a smile on your face. Every interaction you have adds to the masterpiece that exists in your very being.
#piccadillyinc
Marlene
Look at the good all around you; what was once impossible is now a reality. How does that happen? Work, faith, trust and a knowing that when you change your thoughts, you change your life.
Everything is possible; tap into the incredible goodness that is waiting for you. It's there, ask anyone who has experienced success or a miracle.
Marlene
Yes the elderly do link us to history and... they have wisdom from years of experience that we don't have yet. What are a few pieces of insight they could share with you?
After reading several articles on this topic, I picked one by Nico Pitney. He writes about a gerontologist who interviewed 1500+ Elders for their advice on living and loving. Here are a few highlights and a link to the full article.
One of the biggest regrets of the very old was, I wish I hadn't spent so much time worrying.
If you lose yourself in the middle-age blur of work and kids, you really won't do your kids any good.
How you respond if your partner interrupts you while you're doing something is very diagnostic of how good the relationship's going to be.
Towards the end of life, what's really important to people is to be able to see how their life mattered, how it was meaningful, how there was a story to it that wraps up in a good way.
While thinking about the Topic of the Week, I came across this wonderful article on Self-Esteem.
What is Self-Esteem?
Most people's thoughts and feelings about themselves fluctuate somewhat based on their daily experiences. The grade you get on an exam, how your friends treat you, ups and downs in a romantic relationship can all have a temporary impact on how you feel about yourself.
Your self-esteem, however, is something more fundamental than the normal ups and downs associated with situational changes. For people with good self-esteem, normal ups and downs may lead to temporary fluctuations in how they feel about themselves, but only to a limited extent. In contrast, for people with poor self-esteem, these ups and downs drastically impact the way they see themselves.
Okay?
Marlene
Yes, the work was hard! The results were impressive. He continues to train so that he can maintain what he worked so hard to do.
You can do it too! Just start and then continue one day at a time. You will get there; have faith in yourself, believe in yourself and know you CAN do it!
Be fearless today and take care!
Marlene
No plan? No direction! Would you attempt to build your house without a plan? Of course not; unless you want to waste your time and money. If what I suggested is true, why wouldn't you have a plan for your days? Surely you want to be ready and set to go each day to accomplish what your heart desires.
If you make having a plan a part of your daily routine, it will be come a habit in no time at all. This is YOUR future and you get to set the direction you want to take each and every day.
John Perry
If you think about it, reality comes in many levels, each level involving different kinds of things, having different kinds of properties. Perhaps most people would think of things like dirt at the bottom level, then us at the next level, and the sky at the highest level. But philosophers have a different, more abstract concept of levels of reality. Here are some examples:
• You and I---or at least our bodies--- along with tables and chairs and cities and towns and planets. This is what philosophers call the level of medium size objects. This level of reality is what most of our lives are concerned with. The sorts of things we can perceive with our senses, and so forth.
• Contrast that with a level called quantum reality. Objects like quarks that we can’t see, having properties like spin that we can barely make sense of.
• On the level just above quantum physics, we find electrons and atoms; then there’s the level of chemical facts, where you have chemicals and bonds; then the level of biology, where you have cells.
• Higher levels too, like maybe involving minds, societies, nations…
• And there are angels and God… and numbers for that matter. So we’ve got lots of levels!
Intuitively each level has a characteristic kind of object, characteristic kinds of properties and facts, and usually a different profession for people that study or work with it: quantum physicists, solid-state physicists, chemists, biologists, psychologists, sociologists. Nearer the top, mathematicians and theologians. And then, at least according to Aristotle, at the very top: philoophers. He put philosophers there because we think about Being --- that is, the whole shebang, and we try to figure out how the different levels are related. Most contemporary philosophers feel more in the middle than at the top. And their approach to the issue of levels of reality focuses on the topic of reduction.
We can set God and the angels aside; philosophers who believe in them aren’t likely to suppose they are reducible to something else, and those who don’t believe in them don’t worry about their reducibility either. We can also set numbers aside, since neither Ken nor I have any firm ideas about them. Then, physicalists like Ken and I both tend to be, think that the rest must be one big reality, physical reality. Facts about chemicals really are just facts about atoms and electrons, and they are really just facts about subatomic particles, or whatever else turns out to be at the bottom. And the same with biology and chemistry; psychology and biology; sociology and psychology.
The divisions are based on how humans interact with the different phenomena, the tools we use, the interests we have, and, of course, the National Science Foundation budgets involved. and Ultimately, metaphysically, philohically, there is just one reality, matter in motion --- or whatever quantum physicists replace matter with, or whatever they replace motion with.
One might think of this as depressing and mysterious. I don’t feel like a complex of quarks. Of course, there is another theory. It’s the competitor to Reductionism. It’s called Emergence. That’s the idea that each level in some way emerges from the one below, under certain conditions. And when emergence happens, truly new objects, properties, and facts are involved.
One might favor reductionism over emergence on the basis that in some cases, the reductions though not yet discovered, are in principle to be had. Biologists have known since Mendel that something, which they called `genes', are responsible for inherited characteristics. But for a long time, there were debates about whether genes could really be explained by physical and chemical properties. Many biologists thought that genes could never be fully explained just in terms of physics and chemistry. They thought, in other words, genes were emergent, and not reducible. But with the discovery of DNA and the development of molecular biology, we know this isn't so. The structure that Watson and Crick discovered has allowed scientists to explain how genes work without appealing to anything but the principles and properties of physics and chemistry.
If everywhere some philosophers see emergence, scientists will eventually provide reductions, emergence will just be another idea in the dust-bin called the history of philosophy. But that grand result would require a biological understanding of consciousness and all the other mental phenomena. Should would-be physicalists like Ken and I really be so confident of that? Is it so obvious that it even makes sense?
Luckily we have an expert on all of this to help us think about it, Tim O’Connor, author of Theism and Ultimate Explanation.
Marlene
Be the first one to offer kindness and care along with compassion and love. You'll never regret a day that you do and you just may change someone's life by providing them hope in humanity.
Marlene
Do you try to do the best in all you do? Sometimes? What holds you back from doing it all the time? It really is amazing at what you can accomplish if you do it to the best of your ability.
What do you have to do if you want to improve on your results? Get more training and practice what you learned over and over again until it becomes second nature.
When I first started Motivateus.com I knew very little about how to code, how to use graphics programs, what SEO was all about, and a lot more. I could have given up and done something else, but I was determined to learn more, practice and improve. I believe, if you need to, you can do the same.
I'll never be the best at graphics but everyday I give the best to each picture or project. My hope is that today, if you haven't already, you will decide to give your best in all you do. Take care and have a great day!
It’s hard enough to change a habit that you can physically see: going for a daily walk, sitting down to write, having a salad for lunch each day. These are easily seen, but can still be quite a challenge to instill in your life.
But what about habits of mindlessness, that you don’t even know you’re doing? Maybe you notice it later, maybe you never notice. How do you change those kinds of habits?
For myself, I have a number of mindless habits that I could focus on:
Judging other people
Eating mindlessly, especially when I’m talking to people or watching TV
Sitting too long and getting distracted online
Comparing myself to others or judging myself
Shutting down into self-concern when someone is unhappy with me
Hiding things from others because I’m ashamed or afraid for them to know
Of course, these are just a handful that stand out. They’re deeply ingrained, because I’ve had them since childhood.
They are not a reason to beat myself up, or judge myself. There is nothing wrong with me for having these habits. And yet I can see how they’re unhelpful to my happiness, to my relationships, to the work I want to do in the world.
So it would be helpful to retrain these mindless habits.
How do we go about that?
What to Know About Changing Mindless Habits
Before we start, it’s important to know that there are two big obstacles to changing these kinds of habits:
They are deeply ingrained. You’ve been doing them for years — reinforcing them for years — and so you won’t just be able to flip a switch and change them in a day or a week. It could take months to retrain, and in some cases, longer — depending on how much focus you give this retraining, and how consistent you’re able to be.
They are unconscious. If you don’t know you’re doing it, you can’t retrain it. It just keeps happening without you being able to do it. Without awareness, you’re powerless.
So it will likely be a messy process, with starts and stops, lots of “failures” that aren’t really failures if you’re using them to learn and grow your awareness. It can get discouraging, unless you look at every failure in this way, as a necessary step to becoming more aware, a necessary stepping stone to crossing this river.
A Retraining Method for Mindless Habits
With the above ideas in mind, here’s how we might retrain these mindless habits:
Focus on just one habit. Look at my list of mindless habits above — these all seem like great candidates to take on immediately. So why not do them all at once, right? But it’s hard enough to be aware of just one of these habits — trying to be aware of several habits at once is like trying to pay attention to 5 televisions at once. I’d say it’s impossible. Pick just one — you can get to all of them eventually.
Recognize the habit’s effects on you. Before you get started, reflect on how this habit affects you. Maybe just watch it for a few days and see how it affects your happiness, relationships, and the meaningful work you’re doing in the world. Start to get very clear on exactly what this habit does to your life, and all of the ripples it has on all parts of your life. Then get clear that you don’t want to keep doing this to yourself and others around you. You can’t afford it.
Create a practice container to give it focus and create awareness. With focus on one habit and clarity about what it does, you can now set up your retraining practice dojo. Here’s the key: create a space where you become as aware as possible of the habit. For example, if I wanted to work on the “being judgmental of others” habit, I might have a practice hour each day where I walk around in public looking at people and noticing when I have the tendency to judge them. I’m actively watching for the habit. Maybe it’s just 30 minutes, or 5 minutes, depending on the habit. But it has a defined start and end, and I’m very deliberately practicing during this time. I can slowly expand it over time, or have multiple practice sessions a day, but it shouldn’t be all day long. Sometimes I might shrink it. The key is to try to be as aware as possible during this practice container.
Imagine an alternative habit that would be more helpful. What would be a more helpful habit to do instead? For example, instead of judging people, I might try to look at them with compassionate eyes. Instead of eating mindlessly, I might try to fully savor each bite, pausing in between to ask if taking another bite would be a loving act or just mindless satisfying of cravings. Instead of sitting too long, I might have focused work sessions for 15 minutes, getting up and exercising or stretching in between. Instead of comparing myself or judging myself, I might see myself with loving eyes. Instead of shutting down when someone is unhappy with me, I might try to see their pain and what they’re going through. Instead of hiding things from others, I might be open and vulnerable about what I’ve been hiding. These are only examples — take a little time to imagine the habit you’d rather have.
When you notice yourself doing the old habit, practice the new one instead. This one is obvious — during your practice session, if you notice yourself starting to do the old habit, do the new one instead, as deliberately and consciously as you can. Every single time, as consistently as possible. If you don’t do it consistently, just notice when you don’t, just increase awareness.
Repeat many times. This one is obvious too — repeat it often, until it becomes easier and more natural and more and more automatic. Reinforce each time you do it by giving yourself a mental pat on the back — feeling good about this success, even if it’s not perfect. Take a moment to feel grateful for your effort.
Then learn to do the new habit earlier. With some practice, you can learn to do the new habit much earlier in the process. For example, instead of judging someone and then switching to seeing them with compassion … I might look at someone and immediately try to see them with compassion, as soon as I see them. This takes a lot of awareness and practice, but it gets easier with time. You’re cutting out the old habit completely, so that the new one gets reinforced.
Repeat many more times. Again, repeat this method as many times as it takes to become more and more automatic. You might add additional practice sessions. You can even try to catch yourself outside of the practice sessions, until it becomes really easy to be aware of this during the day.
Important: see every mistake as a stepping stone to greater awareness. Remember that you’re not going to be perfect at this. It’s going to be messy. The old habit has been strengthened over years. Develop patience with yourself, understanding, compassion. Learn to encourage yourself when things are hard. And see every failure as information to use to get better and better.
This is the method. It works, I promise — I’ve changed some difficult habits this way, even if it took me longer than I’d care to admit. I’m still working with this method, in spurts and starts, in a very messy way. But shift happens. It can for you as well!
POSTED: THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2019
PREVIOUS POST: THE PRACTICE OF LISTENING TO FIND PURPOSE
Thought is like a river. It flows from each of us into one huge collective force. It's strengths has superiority to any of man's inventions. It has unseen greatness as well as magnificent beauty. It's power lies within each of us. We just have to learn how to magnify its significance.
#piccadillyinc
Curiosity is what leads us to knowledge. Knowledge is a powerful asset. When you are curious, you are creating, when you are creating are thinking. So in a sense curiosity leads to thought.
#piccadillyinc
Marlene
Everybody is in sales whether you know it or not. Think about your life and all the people in it. Every day you create, strengthen or diminish your relationships by how you interact with others.
Be the one who encourages, compliments and helps someone today. They're not going to get a fat head because of what you say to them. They will think you're pretty terrific and will enjoy the experience.
BY LEO BABAUTA
Who among us doesn’t procrastinate? Who comes up with a wonderfully prioritized plan for the day and sticks to it, without putting off the hard stuff and running to distraction or busywork or comfort?
There may be some of you out there who are incredibly disciplined, but I’d say it’s fairly uncommon.
Most of us have trouble with distractions, with doing busywork instead of important work, with going to our comforts like TV, shopping, social media, with procrastination and putting off good habits.
If you recognize yourself in that description, I invite you to join my Courageous Self-Discipline Challenge for August.
I’ll be holding the challenge (starting Monday) in my Sea Change Program, where more than a thousand people will be doing it together, supporting each other.
How will the challenge work? You’ll commit to the challenge publicly (within the Sea Change community), and then do some daily challenges that will have different focuses each week. There will be weekly check-ins to give you accountability, and a live video webinar.
Here are the weekly focuses:
Week 1: Set commitment & intentions, and start.
Week 2: Deepen commitment & focus.
Week 3: Play with your pattern.
Week 4: Find joy in the discipline.
Each week, there will be an article talking about the weekly focus, with instructions for how to do that week’s focus.
You can ask questions in our Sea Change community, and ask me a question directly in the live video webinar.
Marlene
There are things in life you cannot buy – there is no price to pay – qualities of a person you will have a relationship with. Which ones mean the most to you?
Read more at https://motivateus.com/quote-of-the-day/3-qualities-you-cannot-buy/#U6ZH165aOKP4FxZe.99
Recently "Life" presented a gift to me; a lesson to teach me about my arrogance. I failed to see the beauty in each day, the value of a friend.... and more.
What lessons will be shared that can have an impact on your life too?
Read more of The Story Of Life.
Respect is a huge word with many different meanings. Most of us know what disrespect feels like but can't seem to define respect so I found this article on Entrepreneur.com that I think helps: Here are 7 Qualities of People Who Are Highly Respected:
Be polite. Always be polite to everyone you meet during the day, from your family members to your co-workers, to the checkout person at the grocery store.
Act respectfully.
Listen well.
Be helpful.
Don't make excuses.
Let go of anger.
Be willing to change.
Read a bit more:
What Is Respect?
Marlene
You know you have gifts and talents, some that others don't have. But there is a gift all of us has - do we use it to its full potential?
Writer Michael Levy shares a beautiful little story to emphasize this power and what the effects can be. Read more about The Wizard's Secret Power.
Do you let little annoyances get you down, Yeremiah? It's been called "Sweating the Small Stuff" and sometimes we focus and hang on to these problems and forget what our goal is.
As you get ready for the weekend, reflect a bit and ask yourself is this true for me? If so, you can change that; it's within your power.
by Annette Hall - March 2001
I guess Forrest Gump's mom was right, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you are not sure what you are going to get." In a very pure sense physically and emotionally my ability level can change from one moment to the next. Sometimes I'm able to walk without any noticable limitations. At other times, I have to grope to get from one destination to another, use my walker to get around, or walk like a toddler or a monster. My speech is similarly fluctuating. Sometimes my voice is normal. At other times it is mechanical or robotic. I had, on several occasions, preface my calls, "Please don't hang up, I am not a machine." I have learned to do this, after having people hang up on me because they thought I was a tape or someone playing a joke on them. My voice also changes from being very juvenile, to broken speech (lacking noun-verb agreement articles or prepositional phrases), to sounding like I am Jamaican or Latino. I stutter so much at times, I sound like Porky Pig. Sometimes I sound like one of the Little Rascals. I'm like a box of chocolates, you don't know who your gonna get.
My personality or rather emotions also changes. Though my ability to reason and understand is in tact, at all times, the way I interact fluctuates. The maturity level goes from quite innocent to that of a child during "tender years" to that of a mature adult. During the former, I lack tackfulness and tend to say what I think (yet not with intent to harm). My accountability to others is like that of a child to parent. In fact, when I do things for which I know there is likely to be some negative feedback, I'll say something like "I'm going to be on punishment" or "I'm in trouble." Also my sensitivity level changes. When my voice is juvenile, I tend to have a toddler's form of behavioral responses. For example, I am subject to cry at the drop of a hat for something like being moderately corrected(scolded). Also just watching something on television (or in actuality) where there is sudden excitement, where someone gets hurt (even if comical)I will start to tremor, cry, my arms will move like the robot in "Lost in Space" when he says "Danger, Danger, Will Robinson!!"
My life is like a box of chocolates, you don't know who you are going to get.
#piccadillyinc
Marlene
Do you take failure personally? Do you hang on to the feelings it brought for too long a time?
What if you looked at failure a completely different way? As an experience?Nothing lasts forever, not success and not failure. Everyone hits bumps in the road and sometimes the bumps are huge.
That's okay - we live and we learn from everything. Try not to criticize yourself too much when you fail; they say the more times you fail, the closer you get to success.
Marlene
Are you ready to take your life to a new level? Accept that your decisions, based on your knowledge and attitude, direct your life.
Of course you may have circumstances that pose a challenge - we all do - yet we have to decide WHAT to do next.
When you blame others or circumstances all the time for how your life is working out, you give up your power. Is that really what you want?
By Rick Phillips
"The first time you accept 'good' is the last time you will see excellence."
--- John Ulmo
"We had talked about the possibility and it's ramifications for weeks as test after test failed to confirm or refute the diagnosis. But now we sat in my office crushed by the reality that it was true; John had ALS, Lou Gehrigs's disease. The insidious affliction strikes the muscular system of its victim, eventually draining the body of all strength to support even breathing and a beating heart.
John had been my business partner, my friend and my mentor for many years. He was the kind of friend who pushed you beyond what you thought you could do. John always saw you not for what you are but for what he thought you could be, and then he never let you settle for anything less. One time I objected to his expectations and he responded patiently, "Rick, I wouldn't be much of a friend if I let you settle for what you think is your best."
We sat in the office crying and holding hands like two adolescent children, realizing that the crippling death sentence would not allow John to live for more that two years. Finally, I asked him to think about the one thing he had always dreamed about doing, something that he had not done yet. Was there some event he would like to see with Bonnie, his loving partner? Would it be the running of the bulls in Spain or would he want to see the Great Wall of China, the Parthenon or the Wailing Wall?
His response was actually predictable. John was a lifelong car-racing enthusiast; he had always wanted to go to the Indianapolis 500. Unfortunately, it seemed that the tickets for the event were long tied up in corporate commitments or with fans that handed their seats down through the family as a legacy.
However, I confidently told John it would be no problem.
Really? How is that going to happen? Let's continue:
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